Device for practising in shooting without projectiles.



G. MENARINI & A. EMANUELE.

DEVICE FOR PEAOTIGING IN SHOOTING WITHOUT PROJECT-ILBS.

APYLIGATION FILED 11.53.29, 1910.

1 ,O31,566. Patented July 2,1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WJWMW BY COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cO WASNINUTON. D. c

TTY.

G. MENARINI & A. EMANUELE.

DEVICE FOR PRAGTIGING IN SHOOTING WITHOUT PROJBGTILES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1910.

1,031,566. Patented July 2, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

coLUMmA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHKNGTDN, D. c.

GJMENARINI & A. EMANUBLE. DEVICE FOR PRAGTIGING IN SHOOTING WITHOUT PROJEGTILBS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 29, 1910. 1 ,03 1 ,566.

Patented July 2, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

vvlTNessesz 7 COLUMBI PLANOGRAFH CO WASHINUTON. D C.

GIUSEPPE MENARINI AND ATTILIO EMANUELE, OF ROME,'ITALY.

DEVICE FOR PRACTISING IN SHOOTING WITHOUT PROJECTILES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 1912.

Application filed March 29, 1910. Serial No. 552,252.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, GIUSEPPE MENARINI and A'r'riLio EMANUELE, both subjects of the King of Italy, and residing at Rome, in the Kingdom of Italy, have invented a new and useful Device for Practising in Shooting .Vithcut Projectiles, of which we declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de scription, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The object of the present invention is a device destined for simulating, when exercising in shooting without projectile, the effects which the shot itself would have produced, if bullet cartridges had been made use of.

This effect is obtained: (a) by connecting with the rifle, in the way described hereinafter, a rod, which'always keeps itself parallel to the axis of the barrel, forming a rigid system with the sighting line in all the movements which the'shooter imparts to'the rifle, while he is sighting on the object which he intends to hit; (5) by disposing a paste-board target of suitable size kept by a frame in front of an end of the said rod; (0) by causing a snapping lock controlled by the firing pin to act, which lock, when the shooter has pressed upon the trigger, allows the frame with the paste board target to advance toward the end of the indicating rod, with which it comes into contact in the moment in which the projectile would have left the barrel, if a bullet had been really fired, so that the exact position of the point of the rod and therefore of the direction of the sighting line in this very moment is recorded on the aforesaid pasteboard by means of a little hole, which is produced through the above mentioned contact. As the deviations, which are to be recorded, are generally very small, so in practice the apparatus mentioned had to be completed with a multiplying device, which amplifies the angles of deviation of the indicating rod and allows therefore of the value of the deviations themselves being appreciated more exactly.

An advantage of great practical value of the above mentioned apparatus and which differentiates the same substantially from the other apparatus for verifying the shots hitherto known, consists in the fact that the shooting can take place without or with cartridges, no matter whether the cartridges are blind ones or containing bullets, and in any position from which it can be shot, without compelling the soldier to accommodate himself to the support sustaining the rifle, which also in this case can freely be kept in the arm and moved in any direction, without hindering the soldier in any way in these movements.

The annexed drawing by way of example shows diagrammatically an apparatus for simulating the effects of the shots without projectile according to the present invention, viz.

Figure 1 shows the complete apparatus seen in elevation; Figs. 2, 3 and 4 show on a larger scale the details of two of the gimbal suspensions used in the apparatus and of the snapping'lock. Fig. 5 shows the transverse section of th'e bar which is fastened to the rifle. Fig; 6 is a lateral View of the connection between the gun and the tube which transmits the movement to the subtarget, Fig. 7 is a plan of the same part, Figs. 8 and 9 show in section and back view respectively a detail of this connection, and Fig. 10 is a View of the device for producing the transverse movement of the subtarget.

Upon the plane -1- of a metallic base is applied in the central portion a metallic support of cast iron or bronze -3 In this support rest the pivots 3 pro ecting laterally in the way of trunnions from a rocking plane -4tconsisting also of a long and narrow metal plate having a sufficient thickness to insure a perfect rigidity and which can also be swung about said pivots. One of the ends of the plane 4lcarries a toothed sector -5-, which engages with a toothed pinion carried by a journal -6- mounted on bearings of another support 7- provided on the plane 1. By means of a hand-wheel 8 carried by the shaft 6 the latter can be caused to rotate and therefore the inclination of the plane -4 can be altered with respect to the horizontal line. On the plane -4:- is a gimbal suspension formed by 'a frame 910-, on which is mounted a vertical axis --11 which can revolve and carries a forkshaped support 12, between the arms of which is disposed the horizontal axis -13 which can also revolve and supports at the center of gravity a hollow rod 14, inside which four grooved wheels 15 15l616 are mounted. The two first wheels are placed at such a distance from each other that the space between their axes, increased by the diameter of the wheel measured at the bottom of the groove, corresponds to the distance interceding between two holes 17 -17- bored vertically in the thickness of the bar which at the center has another hole --18. These holes are not cylindrical but conically expanding from both sides and the centers of their cross sections at the narrowest part are upon a straight line passing through the center of suspension of the rod 14, which suspension point coincides with the center of the cross section in the narrowest part of the central hole 18--. A bar 19 is provided with attachments of any kind whatever (not shown in the drawings) which 7 serve to fasten this bar to the rifie between the locking stud for the bayonet and the connecting band. This bar has toward its ends two holes 20 and 20 by means of which two non-extensible wires 21, 21 are fixed to it. The distance between the centers of the two holes 20, 20 is exactly the same as the distance between the centers of the two holes 17 and 17". The two wires 21 and 21 pass through the holes 17, 17 and for a quarter of a winding around the pulleysl6 and 16 respectively, to join an elastic string 22 to which they are attached and which in consequence strains them in an equal measure. This string is attached by means of a hole 23 to the bar 19, the center of the hole 23 being at equal distances from the centers of the holes 20 and 20 respectively.

The wires 2l2 1 and the string 22 are not invariably fixed to the bar 19, but they are connected to same by means of elastic clamps 24: (Fig. 5), which are automatically released in the case of the tension of the wires becoming too strong. s

From what has been said it will easily be understood that the hollow rod -1el and the bar 19- form two sides of a movable parallelogram, the other two sides of which, of variable length are formed by the wires -21-21 which are stretched and pass through the holes 1717- and the points of attachment 2020 of the wires to the bar 19. In case the axis of the gun barrel deviates by a certain angle in a vertical plane, the line which passes through the centers of the holes 17 and 17 deviates in the same way. If the axis of the gun barrel deviates by a certain angle in a horizontal plane, the mentioned parallelogram would tend to get deformed as the two lines passing through the centers of the holes 20 and 20 and 17 and 17 would have a tendency to place themselves in different planes. The horizontal components of the tension of the wires 21 and 21 transmitted to them in an equal measure'by the elastic string 22, however, tend to displace the hollow rod 14 so as to bring the line which passes through the center of the holes 17 and 17 back to place itself also in this case in the plane of and parallel to the line which passes through the center of the holes 21 and 21".

In practice it will be convenient to give to the bar 19 the same weight of the ramrod of the rifle so that, if the ramrod is withdrawn before applying the device to the rifle, the weight of the latter remains unvaried and the shooter can still handle the rifle in the same way as if it were perfectly free. Therewith the first portion of the device could be considered complete; in fact a 'device thus formed can advantageously be utilized in many instances; however, as, when the results of the shooting must be re corded, also the small deviations have to be considered, so it is preferable to provide also a multiplying device for amplifying the angle of deviation described by the hollow rod 14.

A very convenient multiplying device is for instance that shown in the drawing and which is formed in the following way: The rod 14 carries at its front end two vertical pivots 26, around which can revolve a ring 27 which is provided with two horizontal pivots 28. Around these pivots 28 revolves another larger ring 29 which encircles the first one and be low supports a rectangular or circular frame 30. To balance the weight of this system of rings 2729-, which form a perfect gimbal suspension, the rod 14 at its rear end is provided with a counterweight 31, the position of which can be regulated in such a way as to keep perfectly balanced the rod 14. On the plate 4 is provided a second support 2, which carries a vertical frame 33 forming another gimbal suspension, which can be turned around a fixed point 34 and supports a needle 35. The needle 35 passes through the rectangular ring 30, with which it is connected by means of two horizontal pivots 36, so that in all positions the axis of the needle 35 passes always through the center 7 of the frame 30-. The effect of this disposition is that the needle 35 repeats amplified the movements of the fore end of the rod 14 and the amplifying power can be regulated at will by approaching or moving away more or less the position of the points 34.37. I

In front of the point of the needle is placed a frame 38 into which is intro duced a pasteboard on which is already marked the point which corresponds to that chosen for the sighting. The frame 38 can be moved transversely to the direction of the length of the plate -4- and is carried by a slide -39 movable in the longitudinal direction. The transverse movement of the frame is produced by means of an adjusting screw 40, as is shown in Fig. 10. The slide 39 is connected to the frame 38 by means of a frame 57 which has two rectangular openings 58 and two lugs 59 which receive the screw 40. Through the openings 58 pass two other lugs 60 which are provided with a threaded hole to receive the said screw 40. By turning this screw one obtains a transverse displacement of the frame 38. The longitudinal movement of the slide is obtained by means of a spring 41 which normally is kept compressed by a catch -42 which prevents the forward motion of the slide. When the catch is raised, the spring pushes forward the slide which advances for such a distance as to bring the paste board target into the position where it is pierced by the point of the needle. During this forward movement however the slide, on account of the kinetic energy stored up in it, goes be yond the position in which the spring is in equilibrium, thus slightly straining the said spring. In consequence, as soon as the hole in the target has been made, the slide drawn by the spring moves backward slightly so as to disengage the point of the needle from the hole which it has produced in the target. The unlocking of the slide through the raising of the catch can be produced in any way; for instance electrically; but a simple manner consists in connecting the catch with the piston -43 of a small cylinder 44, into which the compressed air is introduced through a small tube of indiarubber. Said tube comes from the body of a pump, the piston of which is moved by the firing pin of the rifle in firing the shot as is illustrated by the Figs. 6, 7 8 and 9 which show by way of example this part as applied to a modern gun, that is to say, to a gun as used in Italy. The cylinder 47 of a small piston carries laterally a lug 48 with the holes 49 and 50. One unscrews the button 51 of the firing pin, and introduces the said firing pin into the hole 49 and a pin for holding up the button 51 (which pin is not shown in the drawings) into the hole 50. One then screws the button of the said firing pin on again. In the cylinder 47 slides tightly a piston 52 which is provided with a counter spring 53. The rod 54 of this piston is provided along its axis with a hole and carries laterally a projection 55 which enters the notch 56 of the wooden gun stock. The end of the rod 54 is threaded on its outside and on this screw is fixed an india rubber tube 57 whose other end enters the hole 46 of the piston 43 (Fig. 4). On the gun being loaded, the cylinder47 connected with the firing pin moves backward while the piston 52 remains in place held back by the projec tion 55 engaging in the notch 56 through the action of the spring 53. On the gun being discharged, the firing pin moves abruptly and violently forward; in consequence, also the cylinder 47 drawn by the spring 53 moves forward without altering in any way the working of the spring of the firing pin. The air compressed between the cylinder 47 and the piston 52 which is immovable flows out through the rod 54 and the tube 57 and actuates as has been said, the piston 43.

The piston, the rod 45 of which rests underneath the catch, is normally lowered and kept in this position through its own weight. The compressed air, which arrives in the cylinder through the hole -46-*, raises the same so as to disengage the slide. In the moment in which the slide is left free, the piston passes beyond a large hole 61 provided in the wall of the cylinder so that the compressed air escapes from the said hole and the firing pin does not need to overcome any further resistance, as the same has no further volume of air to compress. As soon as the compressed air has ceased to act beneath the piston 43 and has escaped, as has been said, through the large hole 61, and after the unlocking of the slide has been efiected, the piston will be drawn downward by its own weight so as to close the hole 61. This downward movement of the piston however would be impeded by the air which, without a possibility of escape, is stored up beneath the piston in the lower part of the cylinder 44. To prevent this inconvenience, the cylinder has been provided at a point of the chamber which the piston, when in its lowest position, will not obstruct, with a hole which is so small that the quantity of compressed air escaping through it is not sufiiciently large to prevent the upward movement of the piston, but which on the other hand is large enough to allow the air which would prevent the piston from descending, to escape so that the piston may completely descend and bring the catch again in such a position as to be able to again lock the slide as soon as the same has again been brought into the operative position by carrying it back.

The working of the device will now easily be understood: After having placed the metallic base -1 in such a way that the rod -l4- lies in the vertical plane containing the point which is to be sighted at, the bar 19 is fastened to the rifle and the latter rests upon a sighting frame and is directed with the greatest care toward the above mentioned point. After having secured a perfect sighting by working the hand wheel -8- and the adjusting screw -40, which produces the transverse displacement of the frame 38, the center already marked on the pasteboard is brought in a position corresponding exactly to the point of the needle When this has been done, the rifle can be taken off the frame and given to the shooter. If he directs the sighting line again on the same point, on which the sighting was performed with the rifle on the frame, the point of the needle 35 will come again in correspondence with the cen ter of the pasteboard, otherwise it Will mark a different point and, if the slide has been placed in the operative position, when pushing the trigger, on the pasteboard will be produced a hole the distance of which from the center Will indicate on the selected scale the extent of the deviation Which the projectile Would have undergone, if a bullet had been shot. As the piercing of the pastebo-ard has to take place in the very moment in which the projectile leaves the barrel, the transmission of the motion to the catch is regulated in such a way that the pasteboard touches the point of the needle just in the said moment.

Having now fully described this our invention and how the same is to be carried out, we declare that what we claim is:

In devices for ascertaining the effects of the fire in practising shoot-ing without projectile the combination of: a gimbal suspension, a movable rod held by said suspension, grooved rollers on said rod; two flexible and inextensible strings running on said rollers and having one of their ends fastened to the rifle, an elastic string joining the other two ends of the inextensible strings and fastened at the other end to a point of the rifle, so as to form a deformable parallelogram two sides of which are the sighting line and the movable rod, as illustrated in the drawings and for the purposes set forth in the specification.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names in the presence of two subscribing witnesses this 15th day of March 1910.

GIUSEPPE MENARINI. ATTILIO EMANUELE. WVitnesses Liar'rnRN LABOOCETTS, ANTONINO LABOOOETTS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

